Method and apparatus for determining drying of clothes

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for determining drying of clothes. The method for determining drying of clothes includes: acquiring an intake air temperature at an air inlet of a drum; calculating a change rate of the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum; determining that drying of the clothes is completed when a relationship between the change rate of the intake air temperature and a preset temperature change rate k s  satisfies a determination condition. According to the clothes drying determination method of the present disclosure, the determination factors affecting the drying of clothes are reduced, and the accuracy of determination of drying of clothes is improved and the cost of drying clothes is reduced.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/CN2018/091361, filed on Jun. 14, 2018 and published as WO2019/041970 on Mar. 7, 2019, which claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201710757023.0, entitled “Method and Apparatus forDetermining Drying of Clothes”, filed with the Chinese Patent Office onAug. 29, 2017. Each application, publication, and patent listed in thisparagraph are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of drying technology ofclothes, and particularly to a method and an apparatus for determiningdrying of clothes.

BACKGROUND

Most methods for determining drying of clothes used by the currentwashing and drying machines all use temperature values from a pluralityof temperature sensors and a complex algorithm to implement thedetermination of the drying of clothes. In the prior art, the degree ofdrying of the clothes is determined through temperature values from aplurality of temperature sensors and a calculation with the complexalgorithm, or the degree of drying of the clothes is convenientlydetermined. However, the above solution uses too many sensors, resultingin too many factors affecting the determination of the drying of theclothes. Once something goes wrong, it is easy to lead to a wrongdetermination; in addition, too many temperature sensors are also easyto increase the cost of clothes drying.

SUMMARY

For this, the technical problems to be solved by the present disclosureare to provide a method and an apparatus for determining drying ofclothes, which can reduce the factors affecting the determination ofdrying of clothes, improve the accuracy of determination of drying ofclothes and reduce the cost of drying clothes.

In order to address the above problems, the present disclosure providesa method for determining drying of clothes, including:

acquiring an intake air temperature at an air inlet of a drum;

calculating a change rate of the intake air temperature at the air inletof the drum;

determining that drying of the clothes is completed when a relationshipbetween the change rate of the intake air temperature and a presettemperature change rate k_(s) satisfies a determination condition.

Preferably, the method further includes:

after acquiring the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drumand before calculating the change rate the intake air temperature at theair inlet of the drum;

stopping heating the intake air when the intake air temperature at theair inlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h);

start heating the intake air when the intake air temperature at the airinlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≤T₁;

This a temperature at which heating of the intake air is stopped, and T₁is a temperature at which the heating of the intake air is started, whenthe intake air temperature is greater than or equal to T_(h), theheating of the intake air is stopped, and when the intake airtemperature is less than or equal to Th₁, the heating of the intake airis started.

Preferably, the calculating the change rate of the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum includes:

calculating a change rate k of the intake air temperature from T₁ to Th,

where k=(T_(h)−T₁)/t, t is time taken for the intake air temperature toincrease from T₁ to Th.

Preferably, the determining that the drying of the clothes is completedwhen the relationship between the change rate of the intake airtemperature and the preset temperature change rate k_(s) satisfies thedetermination condition includes:

taking time taken for the intake air temperature to decrease from T_(h)to T₁ and then increase from T₁ to T_(h) as a cycle, determiningheating-up time t₁, t₂, t₃, . . . , t_(n) in each cycle, and calculatinga heating-up change rate k₁, k₂, k₃, . . . , k_(n) in each cycle;

determining the heating-up change rate k_(n) in each cycle, ifk_(n)≥k_(s), determining that the clothes are dried, and ending thedrying;

if k_(n)<k_(s), determining that the clothes are not yet dried, andcontinuing the drying.

Preferably, the determining the heating-up change rate k_(n) in eachcycle, if k_(n)≥k_(s), determining that the clothes are dried and endingthe drying includes:

detecting the heating-up change rates k_(n) in m consecutive cycles; ifthe heating-up change rates k_(n) in the m consecutive cycles allsatisfy k_(n)≥k_(s), determining that the clothes are dried, where m≤3.

Preferably, the preset temperature change rate k_(s) is one of: a dryingtemperature change rate in an ironing state, a drying temperature changerate in a wearing state, and a drying temperature change rate in anextremely dry state.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus fordetermining drying of clothes is provided, including:

a temperature detection unit configured to acquire an intake airtemperature at an air inlet of a drum;

a calculation unit configured to calculate a change rate of the intakeair temperature detected by the temperature detection unit;

determination unit configured to compare the change rate of the intakeair temperature to a preset temperature change rate k_(s), and determinewhether drying of clothes is completed according to a comparison result.

Preferably, the apparatus for determining drying of clothes furtherincludes a heating control unit configured to control a heater to stopheating intake air when the intake air temperature at an air inlet of adrum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h), and control the heater to start heating theintake air when the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drumsatisfies T_(in)≤T₁.

Preferably, the apparatus for determining drying of clothes furthercomprises a memory, the memory stores a preset temperature change ratek_(s), and the determination unit acquires the preset temperature changerate k_(s) from the memory.

The method for determining drying of clothes provided by the presentdisclosure includes: acquiring an intake air temperature at an air inletof a drum; calculating a change rate of the intake air temperature atthe air inlet of the drum; determining that drying of the clothes iscompleted when a relationship between the change rate of the intake airtemperature and a preset temperature change rate k_(s) satisfies adetermination condition. As for the method for determining drying ofclothes in the present disclosure, only one determination factor, i.e.,the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum, is needed touse to determine whether the clothes are dried according to therelationship between the change rate of the intake air temperature andthe preset temperature change rate k_(s). In such a way, thedetermination factors affecting the drying of clothes are reduced, thedetermination conditions of drying of clothes are simplified, and theaccuracy of determination of drying of clothes is improved. In addition,because the present method only uses one factor, i.e., the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum, the acquiring of temperaturecan be completed with only one temperature sensor, which can reduce thenumber of temperature sensors and reduce the cost of drying clothes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structure diagram of a clothes drying device;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for determining drying of clothesaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a principle diagram illustrating drying and dehumidifying of aclothes drying device;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a change in mass of clothes during a processof drying clothes;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a change in a moisture content of humid airafter passing through a drum during a process of drying clothes;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in a moisture content of humid airafter heat exchange and condensation during a process of drying clothes;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a heating control during a process of dryingclothes;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatus fordetermining drying of clothes according to an embodiment of the presetdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, the clothes drying device applied in the presentdisclosure includes a case 1, a drain hose 2, an outer cylinder 3, aninner cylinder 4, an intake air temperature sensor 5, an upper air duct6, a heating pipe 7, a fan 8, a water inlet valve 9, a rear air duct 10,a drain pump 11 and a drain pipe 12. Each component is arranged in thecase 1.

The inner cylinder 4 and the outer cylinder 3 are collectively referredto as a drum. The inner cylinder 4 is sleeved inside the outer cylinder3. The air inlet of the outer cylinder 3 is connected to the air outletof the upper air duct 6. The air inlet of the outer cylinder 3 (an airinlet of the drum) is provided with the intake air temperature sensor 5,a heating pipe 7 and a fan 8 are provided in the upper air duct 6, and awater inlet valve 9 is provided at a position where the upper air duct 6intersects the rear air duct 10. A drain hose 2 is provided at a bottomportion of the outer cylinder 3. The drain hose 2 is connected to adrain pump 11, and a drain pipe 12 is connected to a drain outlet of thedrain pump 11.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, after the clothes drying device ispowered on, the fan 8 rotates and blows the low-temperature and slightlyhumid air to the heating pipe 7 to heat the air, and then thehigh-temperature dry air enters the outer cylinder 3 through the upperair duct 6. In this process, the intake air temperature sensor 5 detectsthe temperature in real time and controls the start and stop of theheating pipe 7. The high-temperature dry air passes through the wetclothes in the inner cylinder 4, to evaporate the moisture in the wetclothes and take the moisture away. The high-temperature dry air becomesmedium-temperature humid air, and the medium-temperature humid airenters the rear air duct 10. At this time, the water inlet valve 9 isopened; the condensed water enters the rear air duct 10, where themedium-temperature humid air exchanges the heat with the condensedwater, the water vapor in the medium-temperature humid air is condensedinto water which flows with the condensed water to the bottom portion ofthe outer cylinder 3 and passes through the drain hose 2 to the drainpump 11, and then the water is drained through the drain pipe 12. Bycirculating in the above mode, the moisture in the clothes can begradually removed.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, as the drying progresses, the mass m of theclothes is gradually decreased to a stable level; the water vapor takenaway by the dry air becomes less and less; the moisture content daw2 ofthe humid air when the drum blows and the moisture content daw3 of theslightly humid air after the heat exchange and condensation are alsogradually decreased until stabilization. Because the moisture contentdaw1 of the heated high-temperature dry air is smaller, it can beignored here.

By the following formula:C _(paw)=1.01+1.84*d _(aw)Q=c _(paw) *M*(T _(h) −T ₁)W=p*t _(n)

It can be k_(n) own that the specific heat capacity at constant pressurec_(paw) of the humid air is positively related to the moisture contentdaw, thus the quantity of heat Q required to heat the humid air of massM from T₁ to T_(h) is positively related to the specific heat capacityat constant pressure c_(paw) of the humid air. The power p of theheating pipe is constant, thus the heating-up time t_(n) (n=1, 2, 3 . .. ) in each cycle becomes shorter and shorter, and the correspondingheating-up change rate k_(n)=(T_(h)−T₁)/t_(n) becomes greater andgreater. T_(h) is a temperature at which heating of the intake air isstopped, and T₁ is a temperature at which the heating of the intake airis started. When the intake air temperature is greater than or equal toT_(h), the heating pipe stops heating; and when the intake airtemperature is less than or equal to T₁, the heating pipe startsheating.

With reference to FIG. 7, from the real-time change trend curve of theintake air temperature during the drying process controlled by theintake air temperature, it can be k_(n) own that, as the dryingprogresses, t_(n) (n=1, 2, 3, . . . ) is getting smaller and smalleruntil the clothes are dried. Thus, whether the clothes are dried can bedetermined according to a heating-up rate of the intake air temperature,that is, a change in the change rate of the intake air temperature. Theidea of the present disclosure is based on the above analysis.

Referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 7, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a method for determining drying of clothes includes: anintake air temperature at an air inlet of a drum is acquired; a changerate of the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum iscalculated; when the relationship between the change rate of the intakeair temperature and a preset temperature change rate k_(s) meets adetermination condition, it is determined that the clothes are dried.

As for the method for determining drying of clothes in the presentdisclosure, only one determination factor, i.e., the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum, is needed to use to determinewhether the clothes are dried according to the relationship between thechange rate of the intake air temperature and the preset temperaturechange rate k_(s). In such a way, the determination factors affectingthe drying of clothes are reduced, the determination conditions ofdrying of clothes are simplified, and the accuracy of determination ofdrying of clothes is improved. In addition, because the measurementfactor of the present method only includes one factor, i.e., the intakeair temperature at the air inlet of the drum, the acquiring oftemperature can be completed with only one temperature sensor, which canreduce the number of temperature sensors and reduce the cost of dryingclothes, and meanwhile can also avoid the problem of lower accuracy ofdetermination caused by multiple factors affecting each other.

After the step of acquiring the air inlet temperature at the air inletof the drum, and before the step of calculating the change rate of theintake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum, the method furtherincludes: when the intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drumsatisfies a condition T_(in)≥T_(h), the heating of the intake air isstopped; and when the intake air temperature at the air inlet of thedrum satisfies a condition T_(in)≤T₁, the heating of the intake air isstarted. Because the heating pipe can heat the air and the heatingtemperature is higher, if the intake air is heated to reach a highertemperature beyond a temperature range the clothes can withstand, theclothes may be damaged. As a result, the intake air temperature needs tobe controlled. When the intake air temperature reaches or exceeds T_(h),the heating of the intake air is stopped, thereby reducing the intakeair temperature and protecting the clothes. Accordingly, if the intakeair temperature is less than or equal to T₁, the drying temperature istoo low to fully gasify the moisture in the clothes and take themoisture in the clothes away. Therefore, it is needed to heat the intakeair when the intake air temperature is less than or equal to T₁, therebyincreasing the intake air temperature and improving the dryingefficiency of the clothes.

Preferably, the step of calculating the change rate of the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum includes: a change rate k ofthe intake air temperature when the intake air temperature is changedfrom T₁ to T_(h) is calculated, where k=(T_(h)−T₁)/t, and t is a timetaken for the intake air temperature to increase from T₁ to T_(h).

Preferably, when the relationship between the change rate of the intakeair temperature and the preset temperature change rate ks satisfies thedetermination condition, the step of determining the completion of thedrying of clothes includes: a time taken for the intake air temperatureto decrease from T_(h) to T₁ and then increase from T₁ to T_(h) is takenas a cycle; heating-up time t_(n) (n=1, 2, 3 . . . ) in each cycle isdetermined; the heating-up change rate k_(n) (n=1, 2, 3 . . . ) in eachcycle is calculated; the heating-up change rate k_(n) in each cycle isdetermined, if k_(n)≥ks, it is determined that the clothes are dried,then the drying ends; if k_(n)<k_(s), it is determined that the clothesare not yet dried, and the drying is continued. The change rate of theintake air temperature includes a heating-up change rate k_(n) and acooling-down change rate. The factor directly affected by the heatingpipe is the heating-up change rate of the intake air temperature, thusthe heating-up change rate of the intake air temperature can be selectedas a determination condition for determining whether the clothes aredried. Because the less the moisture content in the clothes, the greaterthe heating-up change rate k_(n), when k_(n) reaches or is greater thanthe preset temperature change rate k_(s), it means that the moisture inthe clothes has reduced to a certain degree which can meet the dryingrequirement. Therefore, the completion of drying clothes can bedetermined simply by detecting the change of k_(n), i.e., when the k_(n)is greater than or equal to ks, the drying ends.

Preferably, the step of determining the heating-up change rate k_(n) ineach cycle, if k_(n)≥k_(s), determining that the clothes are dried andending the drying includes: heating-up change rates k_(n) in mconsecutive cycles are detected; if the heating-up change rates k_(n) inthe consecutive cycles all satisfy k_(n)≥k_(s), it is determined thatthe clothes are dried, where m≥3. Because in the actual drying processof the clothes, there are still some influencing factors making k_(n)greater than or equal to k_(s), but at this point there is still thepossibility that the clothes are not yet dried. Accordingly, in order tofurther improve the accuracy of determination of drying of the clothes,the heating-up change rates k_(n) in m consecutive cycles can bedetected. If the heating-up change rates k_(n) in the m consecutivecycles all satisfy k_(n)≥k_(s), it means that the moisture in theclothes has indeed satisfied the drying requirement, and it can bedetermined that the clothes have been dried.

The preset temperature change rate k_(s) is one of: a drying temperaturechange rate in an ironing state, a drying temperature change rate in awearing state, and a drying temperature change rate in an extremely drystate. By changing the preset temperature change rate k_(s), the clothescan be dried to the corresponding drying degree according to differentrequirements, and consequently, various drying requirements of clothescan be better met and the applicability of drying of clothes isimproved.

A method for determining drying of clothes based on the intake airtemperature change rate used in the present disclosure implements anaccurate drying determination of clothes, compared to the conventionaldrying determination method, it saves cost and energy, and implementsprotection of the clothes.

Referring to FIG. 8, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a apparatus for determining drying of clothes includes: atemperature detection unit configured to acquire an intake airtemperature at an air inlet of a drum; a calculation unit configured tocalculate a change rate of the intake air temperature according to theintake air temperature detected by the temperature detection unit; adetermination unit configured to compare the change rate of the intakeair temperature to a preset temperature change rate ks, and determinewhether the clothes are dried according to a comparison result.

Preferably, the apparatus for determining drying of clothes furtherincludes a heating control unit, which is configured to: control theheater to stop heating the intake air when the intake air temperature atthe air inlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h); and control the heaterto starting heating the intake air when the intake air temperature atthe air inlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≤T₁.

Preferably, the apparatus for determining drying of clothes furtherincludes a memory. The preset temperature change rate k_(s) is stored inthe memory, and the determination unit acquires the preset temperaturechange rate k_(s) from the memory. The preset temperature change ratek_(s) can be obtained through experiments.

Those skilled in the art can easily understand that, under the premiseof no conflict, the above-mentioned advantageous modes can be freelycombined and superimposed.

The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the presentdisclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Anymodification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within thespirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be included in theprotection scope of the present disclosure. The above embodiments aremerely the preferred implementations of the present disclosure. Itshould be pointed that those skilled in the art can further make severalimprovements and variations without departing from the technicalprinciples of the present disclosure, and these improvements andvariations should also be regarded as the scope of protection of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for determining drying of clothes,comprising: acquiring an intake air temperature at an air inlet of adrum; calculating a change rate of the intake air temperature at the airinlet of the drum; determining that drying of the clothes is completedwhen a relationship between the change rate of the intake airtemperature and a preset temperature change rate k_(s) satisfies adetermination condition; after acquiring the intake air temperature atthe air inlet of the drum and before calculating the change rate of theintake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum; stopping heatingthe intake air when the intake air temperature at the air inlet of thedrum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h); starting the heating the intake air whenthe intake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum satisfiesT_(in)≤T₁; wherein the calculating the change rate of the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum comprises: calculating a changerate k of the intake air temperature from T₁ to T_(h), whereink=(T_(h)−T₁)/t, t is time taken for the intake air temperature toincrease from T₁ to T_(h); wherein T_(h) is a temperature at which theheating of the intake air is stopped, and T₁ is a temperature at whichthe heating of the intake air is started, and when the intake airtemperature is greater than or equal to T_(h), the heating of the intakeair is stopped, and when the intake air temperature is less than orequal to T₁, the heating of the intake air is started; wherein thedetermining that the drying of the clothes is completed when therelationship between the change rate of the intake air temperature andthe preset temperature change rate k_(s) satisfies the determinationcondition comprises: taking time taken for the intake air temperature todecrease from T_(h) to T₁ and then increase from T₁ to T_(h) as a cycle,determining heating-up time t₁, t₂, t₃, . . . , t_(n) in each cycle, andcalculating a heating-up change rate k₁, k₂, k₃, . . . , k_(n) in eachcycle; determining the heating-up change rate k_(n) in each cycle, ifk_(n)≥k_(s), determining that the clothes are dried, and ending thedrying; and if k_(n)<k_(s), determining that the clothes are not yetdied, and continuing the drying.
 2. The method for determining drying ofclothes according to claim 1, wherein the determining the heating-upchange rate k_(n) in each cycle, if k_(n)≥k_(s), determining that theclothes are dried and ending drying comprises: detecting the heating-upchange rates k_(n) in m consecutive cycles; if the heating-up changerates k_(n) in the m consecutive cycles all satisfy k_(n)≥k_(s),determining that the clothes are dried, where m≥3.
 3. The method fordetermining drying of clothes according to claim 1, wherein the presettemperature change rate k_(s) is one of: a drying temperature changerate in an ironing state, a drying temperature change rate in a wearingstate, and a drying temperature change rate in a selected dry state. 4.An apparatus for determining drying of clothes, comprising: a processorand a memory for storing program instructions executed by the processor;wherein the processor is configured to: acquire an intake airtemperature at an air inlet of a drum; calculate a change rate of theintake air temperature detected by the temperature detection unit;compare the change rate of the intake air temperature to a presettemperature change rate k_(s), and determine whether drying of clothesis completed according to a comparison result; after acquiring theintake air temperature at the air inlet of the drum and beforecalculating the change rate of the intake air temperature at the airinlet of the drum: stop heating the intake air when the intake airtemperature at the air inlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h); startthe heating the intake air when the intake air temperature at the airinlet of the drum satisfies T_(in)≤T₁; wherein the step of calculatingthe change rate of the intake air temperature at the air inlet of thedrum comprises: calculating a change rate k of the intake airtemperature from T₁ to T_(h), wherein k=(T_(h)−T₁)/t, t is time takenfor the intake air temperature to increase from T₁ to T_(h); T_(h) is atemperature at which the heating of the intake air is stopped, and T₁ isa temperature at which the heating of the intake air is started, andwhen the intake air temperature is greater than or equal to T_(h), theheating of the intake air is stopped, and when the intake airtemperature is less than or equal to T₁, the heating of the intake airis started; wherein the step of determining that the drying of theclothes is completed when the relationship between the change rate ofthe intake air temperature and the preset temperature change rate k_(s)satisfies the determination condition comprises: taking time taken forthe intake air temperature to decrease from T_(h) to T₁ and thenincrease from T₁ to T_(h) as a cycle, determining heating-up time t₁,t₂, t₃, . . . , t_(n) in each cycle, and calculating a heating-up changerate k₁, k₂, k₃, . . . , k_(n) in each cycle; determining the heating-upchange rate k_(n) in each cycle, if k_(n)≥k_(s), determining that theclothes are dried, and ending the drying; and if k_(n)<k_(s),determining that the clothes are not yet dried and continuing thedrying.
 5. The apparatus for determining drying of clothes according toclaim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to be capable ofexecuting the stored program instructions to: control a heater to stopheating the intake air when the intake air temperature at the air inletof the drum satisfies T_(in)≥T_(h), and control the heater to startheating the intake air when the intake air temperature at the air inletof the drum satisfies T_(in)≤T₁.
 6. The apparatus for determining dryingof clothes according to claim 4, wherein the memory stores the presettemperature change rate k_(s), and the determination unit acquires thepreset temperature change rate k_(s) from the memory.